Rowan's POV
I woke before dawn with Mira still curled in the chair across from mine, the candles long since burned down to nothing, gray morning light beginning to seep through the library windows in place of the storm that had raged all night.
I hadn't meant to fall asleep watching her.
I told myself that as I stood, careful not to wake her, gathering the blanket someone had left draped over the back of a nearby chair and settling it gently over her shoulders instead. She stirred slightly, murmured something I couldn't make out, and settled again, and I stood there a moment longer than I should have, looking at her in the pale light, before forcing myself to leave the room entirely.
The power had returned sometime in the night. The lamps in the hallway glowed steady now, and the house
